Send me a message

Lawrence of Arabia: The Truth Behind The Legend

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

Ways You Can Support My Channel:

Become A Patron

Make A Donation

Who was Lawrence of Arabia? The 1962 David Lean film, starring Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, introduced millions to the legend of T.E. Lawrence - the British officer who led the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in World War One. But how much of that legend is true?

This episode tells the real story of Thomas Edward Lawrence (T.E. Lawrence)

1888: Born in Wales, the illegitimate son of an Irish nobleman and his governess.
1907-1910: Studied History at Oxford, graduating with a first-class honours degree. His thesis on Crusader castles took him on a 1,000-mile walking tour of Syria.
1911-1914: Worked as an archaeologist in Syria, becoming fluent in Arabic. Conducted secret military surveys of the Sinai Peninsula.
1914-1916: Joined British Military Intelligence in Cairo, producing maps and reports on Ottoman forces.
1916-1918: Liaison officer with Prince Faisal's Arab Northern Army during the Arab Revolt. Participated in guerrilla raids on the Hejaz Railway and the capture of Aqaba.
1918: Entered Damascus with Faisal's army as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
1919: Accompanied Faisal to the Paris Peace Conference, where the Sykes-Picot Agreement shattered Arab dreams of independence.
1921:Served as special advisor to Winston Churchill at the Cairo Conference, helping install Faisal as King of Iraq.
1922-1935: Disillusioned, Lawrence enlisted in the RAF and Royal Tank Corps under aliases (John Ross, T.E. Shaw), seeking anonymity.
1935: Died aged 46 in a motorcycle accident near his cottage in Dorset.

The truth behind Lawrence of Arabia is more complex - and more fascinating - than the Hollywood legend. He was one of many British officers supporting the revolt, part of a much bigger story about WW1 in the Middle East, broken promises, and decisions that shaped the region for the next century.

Support the show

Send me a message

The British Army's Officer Purchase System 1664-1871

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

Ways You Can Support My Channel:

Become A Patron

Make A Donation

For over two centuries, from 1660 to 1871, the British Army allowed officers to buy their commissions and promotions. Wealthy aristocrats like Lord Cardigan could purchase their way to command without ever seeing battle, leading to disasters like the Charge of the Light Brigade. It's easy to dismiss the purchase system as simply elitist and corrupt—a recipe for incompetence that blocked talent and rewarded privilege.

But the real story is far more nuanced.

Episodes related to this story:

The Battle of Assaye 1803

Support the show

Send me a message

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

The British victory over Tipu Sultan, the "Tiger of Mysore", during the 4th Anglo-Mysore War, at the battle of Seringapatam 1799.

Ways You Can Support My Channel:

Become A Patron

Make A Donation

Support the show

Send me a message

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

On 26 January 1808, four hundred soldiers of the New South Wales Corps marched on Government House in Sydney and arrested Governor William Bligh. This was the Rum Rebellion - the only successful military coup in Australian history.

Ways You Can Support My Channel:

Become A Patron

Make A Donation

Support the show

Send me a message

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

The Mutiny on the Bounty is one of history's most famous naval rebellions, but what most people know comes from Hollywood, not history. The films of 1935, 1962, and 1984 portrayed William Bligh as a tyrannical monster and Fletcher Christian as a heroic champion of the oppressed. But the real story is far more nuanced—and far more interesting.

Ways You Can Support My Channel:

Become A Patron

Make A Donation

Support the show

Send me a message

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

EDGEHILL: THE MOST HAUNTED BATTLEFIELD IN BRITAIN?

In December 1642, just weeks after the Battle of Edgehill, terrified villagers in Warwickshire reported seeing an entire battle being fought in the sky above their heads. Night after night, phantom armies clashed in the darkness—ghostly cavalry charges, spectral infantry formations, and the terrible sounds of dying men echoing across the frozen fields.

This is the only battlefield haunting in British history that was investigated by a Royal Commission sent by King Charles I himself. The investigation was documented in a contemporary pamphlet that survives to this day in the British Library.

Ways You Can Support My Channel:

Become A Patron

Make A Donation

Support the show

Send me a message

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

What happened to the survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854, during the Crimean War?

The answer is a tale of two fates.

While some survivors found success and prosperity, others ended their days in workhouses and paupers' graves—a shocking reality that would eventually spark national outrage.

Ways You Can Support My Channel:

Become A Patron

Make A Donation

Support the show

Send me a message

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

This is the story of the audacious theft of England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, by Thomas Blood, in 1671.

Ways You Can Support My Channel:

Become A Patron

Make A Donation

Support the show